Susan Springer Anderson - Coming Into Being/Coming Undone

Susan Springer Anderson

My work explores the different layers of the human experience and our interactions with both the natural and constructed worlds around us utilizing sculptural armatures and an assemblage of a variety of repurposed materials to create portraits. Central to my practice is the encounter between disparate found materials each containing an individual story. The pieces explore themes of healing, individuality and memory, as well as gender roles, cultural traditions and significant geographical and emotional locations. Driving each work is the desire to discover unexpected beauty in the common materials of our daily lives and to pair physical materials with intangible ideas. I employ handcrafting methods to create a wire armature. I then sew and weave items such as twine, cleaning cloths or grapevines into a new fabric that functions as clothing or as skin for the body forms; each an original design. I utilize these alternative materials, often destined for disposal, in order to reclaim them and give them a new identity, holding their temporary character in tension with an idea of longevity leaving in question, which will prevail in the end.